Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom [2018] ★★½

No surprises here: “Fallen Kingdom” doesn’t live up to its predecessor, and understandably so. This sequel only exists because “Jurassic World” was a monster hit (personally, I enjoyed it a lot), and managed to put the Jurassic Park franchise on the map again. The new film isn’t bad by any means, but you can tell right from the start that it won’t rise to its potential. The generic opening sequence truly sets the tone for the rest of the film, a mix of entertaining action scenes followed by dull stretches. Let’s catch up. The park from the previous film is gone, but Owen (Chris Pratt once again) and Claire (Bryce-Dallas Howard) have a new mission: to rescue the remaining dinosaurs from a volcano eruption that could wipe them all away. Nothing that you haven’t seen before really. And that’s the problem with “Fallen Kingdom”, which managed to keep me entertained but never truly dazzled me. What seemed organic in the first film seems a bit forced here. Luckily enough, Christ Pratt is still as funny as ever and makes the ride still worth taking. And the blowout climax is excitingly staged. It’s just that waiting for the good stuff can be a real bummer sometimes. “Fallen Kingdom” is worth the price of admission, but much like “The Lost World” and “Jurassic Park 3”, it’s jut not memorable enough.